In a keeper league, some LA fan is offering me either Koivu or Kastsisyn (my pick) for Dustin Brown. Personally I would rather keep Brown over either one of those guys, I think he could be a goal scorer, plus a PIM guy.

Thought I would run it past the prospect board just to draw some opinions though. Thanks.

In a keeper league, some LA fan is offering me either Koivu or Kastsisyn (my pick) for Dustin Brown. Personally I would rather keep Brown over either one of those guys, I think he could be a goal scorer, plus a PIM guy.

Thought I would run it past the prospect board just to draw some opinions though. Thanks.

Why are you guys dissing Koivu? I mean seriously have anyone of you seen the guy play or are you talking out of your asses by what you've seen on this board?

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The reason is pretty simple. You did not take into account that this guy is asking for help with his pool. You don't want a guy who is sure not to play in the NHL over a guy like Brown, who might play soon. Same with Kaststsitsyn, he just makes no sense for a pool, IMO.

But then, nobody can blame you for presuming that questions related to PROSPECTS would be asked here (on the PROSPECT BOARD) when we have a FANTASY board for the kind of crap this thread is concerned about.

Since the question was asked, I'll try to answer it from a prospect point of view and ignore the lamer fantasy aspects. Personally, I rate Koivu extremely high. Probably more than a majority of Wild fans, even.

Koivu won't get much support because:

1-It's now been a while that he's been drafted. People around here can label players bust one year after the draft. Koivu is lucky it hasn't happened yet.

2-The younger is better syndrome. It's in full effect at all time.

3-People haven't seen him as much as Brown. Brown has also made a good impression at camp. This is usually a factor in evaluating guy and I can't really say I completely disagree. It's good to see Brown can handle himself well

4-Brown is actually a guy who was rated fairly high by many. 2nd overall NA by the CSS, I think. He should have gone higher but teams had different strategies and grabbed the guys they liked. That's ok.

5-Kastsitsyn is a gamble pick. A lot of people LOVE those. It's a matter of preferance. He's seen as either too risky or too infinitly talented to pass up. Depends on what you are shooting for.

6-Kastsitsyn was rated insanely high by Redline. A lot of people like Redline.

7-Kastsitsyn is seen as an amazing talent with great skills and Brown as a goalscorer who is unafraid. But few labels have been put on Koivu. He's not the fastest, he's not the strongest, he's not compared often to other players. It's tough to be all that enthusiastic when you don't have a good read of the guy.

8-It doesn't help that Koivu has played in Finland in the shadow of three of the most hyped prospects in recent history. Ruutu, Pitkanen and Lehtonen grabbed a lot of attention.

9-Koivu is not an explosive player. He ain't flashy. He is also not recognized as a goalscorer.

10-Reports on Koivu's play the last two years have been mixed. Some observers of hockey in Finland seem high on him while others think he is good but not great.

All in all, some of those reasons are valid, some are probably not. You decide for yourself. I for one have seen Koivu only a few times but I am sold on his great potential. I'm not sure if he'll make it in the NHL and have a great career. Haven't seen him enough for that. But I saw a player who can do a lot of things well. A good blend of a playmaking with grit and determination. I'm hoping he'll have a great year and get noticed. I really, really like him and I haven't asked Pucks for confirmation but I think I had him the highest of all rankers on our top 50.

I am glad he was drafted by a franchise where people are absolutely nuts when it comes to hockey. His skating has been knocked and I know Minnesota likes to move fast but I think he'll fit right with the team and it will work out great. He looks competitive as hell and smart on top of being good offensively. Lemaire could do something great with him over time.

Take Brown. He's a safer pick. Kastitsin has a higher "ceiling", but he also has a lower "floor". With Brown you know what you get. AK-jr. has bust potential. Not that Brown doesn't (every prospect can become a bust), but you more or less know what your getting with him.